DECEMBER LOG PT2

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→ DESPITE EVERYTHING, YOU'RE STILL ALIVE

(click to expand - congratulations! congratulations! congratulations!)

The earthquakes cease and the smog slowly begins to clear. It'll be hours before the sky breaks through and the moon could be seen once more, but the fires of the volcano finally calm down and the screams of terror cease, only to be replaced with concerned shouting. Is everyone all right? Where is so-and-so? Is there a doctor nearby? Both people and Pokemon run back and forth, attending to what and who they can.

Although fatalities seem to be low, injuries are high. Some have fallen during their escape while others have been pelted by falling rocks, but nearly everyone is a victim to high levels of carbon monoxide and the thick scattering of ashes. All types of Pokemon pitch in to help - even wild ones - as they try their best to create a shelter for the remainder of the night and escort the young and elderly to the still-functioning boba shop.

No one will be falling asleep anytime soon, however.

→ IT'S TIME TO REBUILD

(click to expand - can we fix it? yes, we can!!)

Throughout the next few days and weeks, the people of Hami try to rebuild their lives once more. They erect campsites and learn how to survive on their new island. Unlike last time, however, help arrives from different parts of Cassava - Toran, Mango, and Melona. Food and water are passed around while additional medical staff tend to the still-injured. Mari and Konoha have also tagged along, relieved that Tsubomi have made it out all right, but saddened by the state of things. The three gym leaders make themselves available to assist where they can, including being free for gym battles, though they may make a face and, in Tsubomi's case, scowl. A little distraction is good, though, and they will eventually relent to a challenge.

As supplies are passed around, volunteers of the support team mention that the HMs for Fly and Surf have been finally located. There were multiple copies held in each city and town's Pokemon Centre for trainers to use, but they've all gone missing earlier that year. No one understands why, but they've managed to find a single copy of each in an old and forgotten box in Toran. With this, everyone can now travel by Pokemon and shorten each day of a trip to an hour, so for a five-day hike, it'll turn into a five-hour flight. Pretty useful, huh?

The HMs are passed around for Pokemon to learn, but with the large amount of people and long line-ups, you'll only have the chance to learn one of the two moves. Choose wisely as they may not be seen for a while again.

→ HO HO HO-LY SHIT

(click to expand - it's already the end of the year!)

Despite the grim beginning of the month, the latter half of December is filled with cheer and joy - even for Hami Island, whose people are making the best out of their situation. Christmas is near and everyone is excited to end this hectic year with smiles. Bright decorations are hung and although Toran is the only location with natural snowfall, ice-type Pokemon artifically create snow for everyone to enjoy. Some are nicer about it than others, as Spheals use Powder Snow to create beautiful gusts of snowflakes in the air while Sneasels use Icy Wind when people are least expecting it, causing hats to go flying and for tinier Pokemon to tumble away.

Little Delibirds wander through all towns and campsites to spread the joy. They give away presents from their seemingly-endless-void-of-a-bag, chirping happily as they hand over either a gift or a bomb. If you're lucky, it's the former and you'll get whatever material present that you've wanted or needed, even if you didn't know it, but if you're not so fortunate... well, at least it's easy to find doctors in Cassava.

But the Delibirds aren't enough to replace a real Santa Claus. Children beg and yell for one, but in the midst of all the panic and fuss over the volcano and Hami's citizens, every town forgot to hire someone to play the jolly ol' man. Oops. Well, be a dear and sub in, why don't you? It's okay if you don't look the part. They'll just shove you into an itchy costume and use superglue for the fake beard. It's okay if it takes an entire night or two for it to come off. You gotta do it for the children, who are more than insistent on tugging on it for fun.

Christmas eventually comes and goes before it's New Year's Eve. Everyone makes preparations for the fireworks show for their respective town and campsite. By the end of the night, the sky is lit with bright and sparkling colours. It's a beautiful end to the year and everyone peacefully goes to sleep that night. Some dream of a better future while others dream of fulfilling their resolutions, but for each isekai'd traveller, they all share one single dream: an out-of-body experience in darkness with a presence that surrounds them.

"What is your deepest, darkest desire?"

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ Congratulations for surviving the year! Your IC gift is learning either Fly or Surf and one item of your OOC choosing. This item may be a canon regain or simply anything else, but regardless of the choice, please comment underneath the proper top-level to get it approved.
⬥ Happy holidays and an early happy new year!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Can't believe Fai's still reeling from Hien's horrible storytelling skills. He looks thoughtful, wondering which world he should talk about that isn't too depressing nor boring. ]

One of the worlds I've been to... Let's see.

[ His gaze shifts to the apple slices on the plate. ]

There was one... where I had to work as an assistant nurse in a hospital.

[ He did pretend to be one in Cassava too, but he didn't tell Fai about that. ]

It was a world where one of my other selves followed through with a path he didn't necessarily want to take, but took it anyway. The good thing though, is that his childhood friend was with him. I didn't know much about medical things myself, but it was just something I needed to remember, and I had no problem with that at the moment.

[ He starts peeling another orange, but it's for himself this time. ]

I didn't think he'd enjoy it, because I never did. Working there requires a lot of mental fortitude. He wasn't necessarily skilled, so he was mostly given simple tasks, but one thing he did know how to do best was talking to patients to make sure that most didn't have such a miserable time while they were there... even though he's a bleeding heart.

[ He eats a piece of the orange. ]

... I guess some things never change.

[ Fai looks over at Hien, listening intently. ]

At least his friend was with him. [ Fai knows all about taking paths you don't want to take. Had the real Fai been there, maybe it would have been more bearable. Although... he wouldn't have had to take this path at all had that been the case.

He smiles. ]

You're right. That certainly didn't change. It's exactly what you're doing with me right now.

What? Taking care of you? I wouldn't even need to be an assistant nurse to do that.

[ He laughs a little. ]

It just... I had a lot of bittersweet feelings about it. His childhood friend, or the one that I used to know... the variation that I first knew, also wanted to be a nurse, said that she'd always take care of me and all that.

[ But then he kinda literally died in her arms. No bueno. He's pretty sure he scarred her for life too by doing that, and after finding out his death was unnecessary, he felt even worse about it.

You can never go back, only forward. No matter how much you want to amend your mistakes, you can only keep going. You can't fix it anyway.

Hien feels his heart grow cold. ]

So I'll just be the one to take care of you guys instead.

[ Ah... bittersweet feelings. At the mention of her being the first iteration Hien knew, Fai starts to feel like this is maybe a bad topic.

He reaches out to put a hand on Hien's arm. ]

I'll take care of you in return.

[ He smiles, and it's the kind that says there's no arguing against that. ]

You've told me about a few worlds you've been to. I feel like I owe you a story about one of the ones I've been through.

[ There sure isn't... Hien gets it though, since he feels the same if it was the other way around. ]

Sure. I want to hear your adventures too. Don't strain yourself though.

I won't!

[ He withdraws his hand so he can lay back against the pillows more comfortably. ]

You know I have no problem talking.

[ Since he talks... a lot. Part of that comes with pretending to be someone he isn't, though, so he has been more quiet lately. ]

I have a few worlds I could tell you about. [ He starts listing them off on his fingers. ] We solved the mystery of missing village children, changed the future of one world, and raced flying cars to get a feather! Which do you want to hear about?

[ Missing village children... It sounds pretty similar to their predicament here, so he wonders if it's anything similar. ]

How about the village children one?

Alright!

[ He shifts around, getting even more comfortable. ]

It was called the country of Jade, and we found ourselves near the town of Spirit. It was really cold and snowy when we arrived, so it was quite the trip to get to an inn. Once we arrived at the inn, we learned of the town's past. The legend told of a beautiful princess who lived in the castle nearby with the king and queen. One day... a bird flew to the princess's window, holding a feather. This feather would grant all sorts of powers to her, should she accept. Naturally, she accepted the feather.

Unfortunately, her parents died shortly thereafter, leaving the princess to ascend the throne. As time went on, her feather seemed to draw the children in the village towards the castle. One by one, they went missing, never to be seen again. Apparently this very same thing was happening again. Quite the thing to walk into, isn't it?

Yeah, that's... quite something. Did it use the children as living batteries or something?

[ He kinda theorized this already with their current situation, but there's not a lot of reasons why as to why children would be lured in. ]

[ He shakes his head. ]

The thing about the feather is that it's too powerful to need something to recharge its energy. [ He flashes Hien a smile. ] I've used one before, so I know from experience.

[ BUT MOVING ON... He's not going to explain that right now. ]

Many people in the village thought it was just merely the princess keeping the children for some reason. Syaoran tried to look for the castle after hearing that story, but didn't have any luck since the villagers didn't like us much. They were understandably weary.

We ended up having to stay with one of the villagers who was kind enough to offer us a place to stay because everyone else wanted nothing to do with us. We went to bed shortly after, and Sakura told us the next morning that she saw the princess walking about town. Only, another child went missing that same night too.

[ So the villagers hated them even more... ]

We tried to find some clues about the princess—her name was Emeraude, by the way—but we had no luck whatsoever. Not until we looked over the reports of the missing children and Syaoran realized the man who offered his home to us was a common factor between them. He had been hypnotizing the children and leading them to the castle himself. He'd been trying to use them to get to the feather.

[ Wow, that story sure took an abrupt turn. Hien nods as Fai tells the story. ]

But how would doing that help him get the feather...? Because no one else can find the castle, but the children can?

Almost! There were secret passages within the castle leading to the feather that only the children could get through. Once all of this was revealed, the villagers finally trusted us and we were able to finally get to the castle and walk across the water using the rocks underneath the surface.

[ It was an ordeal. His expression turns a little more serious. ]

Unfortunately, the culprit had already gotten to Sakura by the time we got there and he threatened her with a knife. It was at that time that Princess Emeraude used Sakura to tell her story. [ Because there's always time for that! ] Her parents had died in an accident that wasn't caused by the feather, and the children had not been kidnapped all those years ago after all. They were instead being sheltered in the castle to avoid a disease that spread through the town, the magic from the feather keeping them healthy. That's quite the different story, isn't it?

[ Much more mundane than any other possibilities. ]

Just as she was finished telling Princess Emeraude's story, the culprit moved to attack Sakura. Of course, Syaoran managed to protect her, only to get himself hurt in the process. It was then that the river decided to flood the castle, so everything after that is a bit of a blur. Kuro-pon and I worked to evacuate all of the children, while Syaoran and Sakura went another way as they got caught up in the chaos. Thankfully, we all met outside of the castle, mostly safe.

We left that world not too long after, but we were able to pen a letter asking the people of Spirit to start telling the real story behind Princess Emeraude.

[ Mundane is sometimes better. Fai is a much better storyteller than he'll ever be, and it's evidenced in the way Hien pays attention, nodding as Fai moves onto part after part. ]

It's a good thing everyone was safe in the end. That must have been quite a castle though, if nobody could find it...

[ Like. How do you just not find a gigantic castle? He's heard of castles sinking and transporting through the sand, but. What?? ]

Did the real story become the new legend?

My guess is that it was a result of the feather. They work in mysterious ways, after all!

[ They can do anything, basically.

But Fai shrugs at that. ]

I don't know. We haven't been back yet. I hope it is by the time we find our way back to that world.

[ Feathers sound way too powerful. And the fact that there seems to be so many of them scattered throughout many worlds sounds even more dangerous. He's glad he's never had to encounter something like that before. He's not all that keen on fetch quests. ]

Do you usually revisit worlds?

[ Hien never does, so he finds this aspect surprising. ]

No. Every world we've been to so far has been different. They don't even really resemble each other much either.

[ They all have different vibes. ]

We just go wherever Mokona takes us, although I don't think Mokona has much of a choice in that either.

Your little, alcohol-drinking, hammerspace void thing with 108 talents, right? Sounds like quite the ride...

[ Honestly... Fai's worldhopping methods are so different from his own. Probably because Hien has a definite goal before going into any of them. ]

That's right! Mokona's powerful, huh?

[ ...But not as powerful as Fai. ]

Traveling that way can be pretty precarious sometimes. I can't count how many times we've fallen on the ground in a little pile. Good thing Kuro-tan's always there to cushion the fall!

[ ... ... ...

He feels bad for Kurogane upon hearing that. ]

Wow, it's as if he's your personal chair.

[ Fai waves his hand. ]

No, no! He's my personal repairman. And bodyguard. And whatever else I want him to do.

So, he's your--

[ ... ... ... ]

... dog.

[ Yeah. Let's put it that way. Damn. He has a filter for times like these. ]

[ Fai laughs at that. ]

You're not wrong! He's Big Puppy for a reason. He's a big, mean puppy but he'll do something for me if I ask nice enough. Of course, he complains the whole time.

[ What a tsun to a T... though it's not like Hien's allowed to say anything about it. At least he's somewhat aware. ]

Maybe that was a really good coincidental naming...

[ He laughs again. ]

It sure was. I think you'd like Kuro-sama. He's pretty reliable, as you can see. I'm glad he's the one that's helping me look out for the kids.

[ Totally unaware that he's a tsun though. ]

Yeah, you and Hythlodaeus noted that I would probably be the only one out of the three he wouldn't be pissed off at right away.

[ Well. We know how that pans out. ]

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ DESPITE EVERYTHING, YOU'RE STILL ALIVE

→ IT'S TIME TO REBUILD

→ HO HO HO-LY SHIT

→ MOD NOTES

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